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Fighter in the Wind (2004)


daisho2004

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If nobody has seen this movie you really don't know what your missing is it a very good movie with an Excellent storyline and some really good Action scenes in it. Below is a review posted by Woopak and he really did an excellent review so there was no need to post anything on top of his.

This was post by By Woopak "The THRILL" (San Francisco, CA)

"Fighter In the Wind" (Paramui Paito)is the story of Choi Bae Dal, a real-life legendary martial arts figure who, during his peak, defeated hundreds of martial arts experts in Japan and around the world. Or more precisely, based on the comic (manga-Japanese comic)based on the martial artist's life. Choi Bae Dal is also the founder of Kyo kushin karate, millions of students still practice today.

Much of the film takes place during World War II and is set in Japan. The first half of the film follows the adventures of a young Choi Bae Dal (Yang Dong-Geun), whose desire to become a pilot takes a side-winding nose dive when death and humiliation destroy his dreams. After his humiliation at a marketplace, he is tagged as the "pant-wetter". After a run-in with the Yakuza, greatly influenced by the tales of the samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, he embarks on a training regiment in the mountains to develop a unique form of Karate.

Choi Bae Dal now in top physical condition, travels all around the country, roams around by foot, train or whatever to challenge and defeat opponents of different styles and origins. Even his worn out, white Karate Gi looks identical to the one Ryu wears in the "Streetfighter" video game. This cartoon-like transition is strange, but doesn't hurt or strengthen the film in any way.

Fighter in the Wind shows the inherent racism towards Koreans living in Japan, especially towards one person who proves himself the superior martial artist to many famed Japanese masters. The Japanese people (a select few) hated the fact that Choi was being compared to the great swordsman Musashi Miyamoto by the media. What is most interesting (at least to me) is how those Japanese that don't know Choi show nothing but contempt towards him, while those that get to know him, end up with a certain respect, fondness and adoration for him. Teenagers started copying his hair, his outfit (torned Gi)and his mannerisms.

Beautiful Aya Hirayama plays Choi's(Yang Dong-geun)love interest. He is forced to leave her when his conscience won't allow him to stay with her.

The thing I loved about this film is that no wires, CGI was used in its extensive fight choreography. It is well-staged, realistic and a bit brutal, although not as hard-hitting as Ong-bak or TOM YUM GOONG. The music/soundtrack also fits the film and makes it feel epic-like. All the elements compliment each other to give us a very entertaining action film.

PICTURE: ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN. The Korean region-3 release is fantastic. The transfer is very clean, I didn't notice any enhancements or video noise. Colors are radiant and blacks are very detailed.

AUDIO/SUBTITLES: Korean 5.1 DD and DTS-ES. The DTS track is loud! Yopu feel the impact of the hits in your living room. The english subs are very well-translated.

I'm not sure what is being sold in amazon, I have the Korean 2-disc region 3 release with a ton of extras.

I really enjoyed this film. Of course, no one can expect an entertaining, accurate film about the life of man in 2 hours. FIGHTER IN THE WIND makes a very decent attempt though.

RECOMMENDED!! (4 stars)

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**** Agreed.

I checked this film out over 4yrs ago and felt it to be a very good Korean production. I remember Sonny Chiba's version called Champion of Death, and it was no where near as good as this film.

I agree, if you all haven't seen Fighter In The Wind, check it out.

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Yeah, this was a great, dramatic film. The only thing that annoyed me but in a good way was that Choi, during the first half of the film, couldn't get a good break. Just when you're rooting for him to succeed, he's back in trouble again. I wish there'd be another one.

I love the Chiba movies but those are from a different time period altogether and are geared more towards the Oyama comic books. But it was great to see a more serious film about the man.

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I guess I'm one of the few who didn't think it was that good then. Decent movie, but not one I'd be in a hurry to watch again.

Btw, this should be moved to the Korean board now that there's one for threads like this.

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David to answer your question I didn't even realize we had a Korean section it must've just been added, and 2nd. this movie even though it is a Korean made movie it happened in Japan. Choi Bae Dal who founded his own style of Martial Arts beat every school in Japan at that time.

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bamboo spear

I've only seen clips of this film on youtube, but it's definately something I'm going to pick up someday. The Chiba Oyama Trilogy are some of my favorite films, so I'd like to see the Korean take on it.

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Its a shame there are so many great Korean/Japanese films that haven't had a legit US release let alone get a proper BluRay release yet, this is one movie I would love to get on BR!

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Its a shame there are so many great Korean/Japanese films that haven't had a legit US release let alone get a proper BluRay release yet, this is one movie I would love to get on BR!

Agreed. This film, along with the more recent BLACK BELT, are two of the best Martial Arts film of recent memory.

Wonderful!

:bigsmile:

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Just watched this today for the first time.. and i LOVED this movie.. its everything i wished Kuro-Obi (Black belt) was. The realistic fights were awesome and his training scene gave me the chills lol.. i didnt know this was based on a true story.. added to my list of must buys especially since i see it on ebay for less than 5$

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One Armed Boxer
Its a shame there are so many great Korean/Japanese films that haven't had a legit US release let alone get a proper BluRay release yet, this is one movie I would love to get on BR!

This actually got released on BluRay in Korea yesterday in a very nice package -

http://www.yesasia.com/global/fighter-in-the-wind-blu-ray-hommage-limited-edition-korea-version/1034974207-0-0-0-en/info.html

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One Armed Boxer
Nice find! Don't think it's worth 40$ for this BR tho. Ill stick with 4.50$ standard DVD price

Agreed, I definitely prefer it when the '.' is between the '4' and the '5' rather than after it!:tongue:

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I enjoyed it but felt it glossed over important details and was overly long.

The original Korean DVD release had a extremely limited edition with a slipcase made to look like a gi.

Originally they were in going to get Korean singer Rain (The Ninja Assassin, Speed Racer) to play the lead. Choi Baedal/ Masutatsu Oyama was the Karate teacher for Sonny Chiba. Sonny Chiba would go on to play Oyama in the movie Cracked Bull Fighter. Oyama is also the inspiration for the Takuma Sakazai from the SNK video game series Art of Fighting and King of fighters. Some people claim that he was also the inspiration for Street Fighters Ryu but that has never been verified.

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$40 is a too steep a price I'll wait till it goes down in price, in a few months. Thanks for the Heads up though that it was released on BR.

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Fighter In the Wind is a Korean made movie about Karate. It is probably one of the most badass movies made last decade. This movie blew me away and pumped me up to no end and made me want to go outside and start punching trees....naked....in the woods....SCREAMING!!

Becuase THAT actually happens in the movie.

Nonetheless, this movie is about Kyokushin Karate one of the most hardcore styles of Karate that exists today. Dong-kun Yang plays Choi Bae Dal who is supposed to be the younger person of Mas Oyama the creator of Kyokushin-Kai Karate. This is of course a fictional account of Mas Oayam's younger life. It is one movie of many of this story such as Sonny Chiba's "Karate Trilogy" of films where he alsoplays Mas Oayama.

This Korean movie embellished Mas Oyama's Korean ethnic pride since in real life Mas Oyama was not Japanese, but a Korean ethnic person raised in Japan. In real life Mas Oyama took on a full Japanese identity to the 100th degree and never acknowledged his Korean ethnicity. But in this film they make him a Korean patriot-type who is upset at the Japanese imperalists.

Even so this movie is awesome and the end fight scene alone is worth buying it. The end fight scene is based off of Sonny Chiba's end fight in "Karate Bullfighter" (Karate Trilogy's fist film).

There are Korean mafia fights in the street, dojo challenges several times with badass hard hitting Karate, a Judo guy, Aikido guy, a NINJA!!! and plenty of Japanese Karate guys and samurai types. I love this movie. The training scenes also are great where he goes into the woods and goes totally nuts training alone hitting trees.

His girlfriend in the movie is also pretty cute.

What is geat about this film is it is a Karate film using Karate techniques, showing some Kata (forms) in the Karate style, and not the typical Kung Fu flowing dance-like style. All the techniques are hard Karate and the fight scenes show more realistic style of fighting with heavy, low leg kicks.

This movie is one of my favorite films.

Women who are into Korean movies or pop culture will thnk the main actor is totally sexy. Men will think he is badass and want to be like him. It's a win-win situation for date night!!!

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Nice post!

Yes, this film is not nearly as well known or appreciated as I think it should be. Hopefully your post will introduce it to a lot of new viewers. :nodding

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